Allahabad High Court rejects bail pleas of 4 cops in 2021 custodial death case
The Allahabad High Court has rejected the bail pleas of four Uttar Pradesh police personnel accused in the 2021 custodial death of Krishna Kumar Yadav, also known as Pujari, in Jaunpur district.
In its order dated September 30, the court cited the CBI chargesheet, which alleged that the policemen caused grievous injuries to Yadav to extract a confession and then murdered him by inflicting injuries sufficient to cause his death.
Justice Samit Gopal also took note of the Supreme Court's March 12, 2024 order cancelling bail granted to co-accused Jitendra Singh.
The top court had observed that the case involved allegations of custodial death against a police officer and that a stricter approach was needed while considering bail. It had also noted the gravity of the charge under Section 302 of the IPC and directed the accused to surrender before the CBI court.
The four accused whose bail applications were rejected are Jaysheel Tiwari, Ramkrit Yadav, Raj Kumar Verma and Angad Prasad Chaudhary. According to the CBI, false records were also created to show Yadav's death as an accident or an assault by unknown persons, instead of physical torture in police custody.
The agency filed a chargesheet against 11 police personnel after an FIR was lodged on February 12, 2021 at Baksha village in Jaunpur district under Sections 302, 34, 120-B and other provisions of the IPC. The Special CBI Judge in Lucknow later framed charges on September 18, 2024.
As per the FIR, Krishna Kumar Yadav was taken from his house at around 3 am on February 11, 2021 by a Special Operation Group team and later by the Baksa SHO along with other police personnel. A relative alleged in the FIR that Krishna was unable to stand and shouted to his mother to save him, saying the police would kill him.
The family was later informed that he had died in police custody. On September 8, 2021, a division bench of the high court transferred the investigation to the CBI, which then registered its own FIR and filed a chargesheet against 11 policemen.
The CBI relied on the opinion of an AIIMS-Delhi medical board, which said the victim had suffered multiple blunt-force injuries and that the cause of death was shock caused by the cumulative effect of those injuries.- Ends
